Burges Salmon has been shortlisted for Advisory Firm of the Year and has advised on two of the transactions shortlisted for Deal of the Year at the forthcoming New Energy & Cleantech Awards 2015.
The 2015 New Energy & Cleantech Awards, now in their eighth year, recognise those who play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the green energy and cleantech industries, celebrating the companies, entrepreneurs, investors and specialist advisers who are instrumental in the sector.
For the Advisory Firm of the Year category, judges will reward the professional advisory firm that has provided real depth of expertise in the sector and given invaluable service to its clients.
Over the last 15 years Burges Salmon has established itself as one of the UK’s leading law firms providing advice to the green energy and cleantech sector. Our Renewables sector team has a breadth of experience across different technologies, providing advice to 'first of a kind' and key UK renewables infrastructure projects. The team has grown to over 60 specialist lawyers, advising on technologies such as onshore/offshore wind, wave, tidal, hydro, biomass, solar, fuel cells, waste to energy, tidal lagoons and geothermal energy. Many of the firm’s lawyers also sit on (have been elected to) influential industry working groups.
Particular highlights include acting on the world’s largest tidal energy project, Scotland’s largest ever renewables project, the UK’s largest planned biomass plant and, reflecting the expertise it offers, we have been appointed as an adviser to the UK regulator Ofgem and the Green Investment Bank. In 2014 alone, our Energy team completed:
- 53 M and A deals
- 6 PE/VC equity transactions
- 10 project financings
- 2 public offerings (both by way of secondary placing)
The Deal of the Year acknowledges the company that the judges deem to have planned and executed the best acquisition, merger or fundraising during the past 12 months.
Burges Salmon client GDF SUEZ has been shortlisted in this category for its acquisition of leading independent wind energy developer, West Coast Energy (WCE), in one of 2014's highest profile deals in the UK energy sector. The firm’s corporate team advised GDF SUEZ on the transaction. The deal utilised the full extent of Burges Salmon's cross-firm energy team in areas including corporate, energy regulation, intellectual property, employment and pensions and real estate.
Burges Salmon also acted on another of the deals shortlisted in the Deal of the Year category. The firm’s Energy sector experts advised Belectric Solar on the sale of its 46MWp Landmead solar farm to Foresight Solar Fund. The team also advised Belectric on the development and construction of the Oxfordshire solar park.
Burges Salmon corporate partner and energy sector specialist, Camilla Usher-Clark said: “2014 was the team's most successful year to date and we are pleased to have been involved in some of the sector's most ground-breaking projects over the last 12 months.
'We are proud of the depth of our sector knowledge, which allows us to deliver the best possible service to our clients, through which our team has also earned the respect of the regulators, authorities and other investors and advisers.
“When you couple this with the workload and sheer volume of 2014 deals the team has advised on, we are delighted that our work has been recognised in two categories at these awards.”